Lithuania’s next commissioner

The government of Lithuania has nominated Vytenis Andriukaitis, currently minister for health, to be Lithuania’s next European commissioner.

Andriukaitis, who will be 63 next month, is a surgeon by training. He was active in the anti-Soviet opposition and was one of the authors of Lithuania’s constitution. He later became chairman of the centre-left Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP).

He chaired the Lithuanian parliament’s European affairs committee before the country joined the EU. He led the Lithuanian delegation to the convention on the future of Europe.